


Rosy Rings: A Glossary of Terms

by eurodox59



Series: Rosy Rings and Glowing Things [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-12 18:58:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9085678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eurodox59/pseuds/eurodox59
Summary: It was brought to my attention that bringing on so many changes so soon might be a bit confusing. So here's a lore glossary, summarizing (or spewing forth everything in my case) everything I have on the persons/organizations/groups involved.Subject to change as I see fit.





	1. Timelines

The Humans

  * 1955 — Federation-backed Soviets launch Sputnik 1.
  * 1956 — Order-sponsored Americans pass National Aeronautics and Space Act, forming NASA.
  * January 1960 — Order begins preparations for a shadow-war against Federation.
  * April 1960
    * April 5 — Yuri Gagarin first man to orbit Earth in a space vehicle.
    * April 15 — Alan Shepard first American to orbit Earth.
  * 1963 — JFK is assassinated, Order makes the first move
  * 1964-5 — Order-Federation shadow-war
  * 1966 — Order prevails, imposes integration order on Federation
  * 1969 — Apollo 11 moon landings
  * 1976
    * May — Federals retaliate by putting a Cosmonaut in orbit over Mars, causing massive property damage, and killing several NASA scientists.
    * August — 94th Congress approves additional funding. Order pushes development of NERVA nuclear engine.
  * 1980 — Order retaliates against Soviet space program, delaying planned Mars landing by years
  * 1981 — Ares I mission makes successful landing on Mars. Finds Prothean ruins
  * 1982, in order
    * Ares II lands an expedition on Mars to investigate the ruins. 
    * Charon explodes, revealing a very large unidentified object.
    * The object activates, depositing alien spaceships in the solar system.
    * Envoys of the Parnithian Union demand the annexation of humanity
    * The Treaty of Istanbul: Humanity joins the Union as a commonwealth nation, yielding the power of foreign diplomacy to the Union.
  * 1983-2032 — rising racial tensions
  * 2032-2045 — Red Years War
  * 2043 — United Nations dissolved. Replaced by Sol Systems Alliance. Many complain of Parnithian meddling.
  * 2060 — First test flight of SSV _Ascension_ , Humantiy’s first eezo ship
  * 2064 — rise of “Human Nationalism”
  * 2077 — Cerberus is incorporated from several existing human terrorist organizations. Terrorist activity skyrockets.




	2. New Species

Hexers — In appearance, a cloud of dust and plasma given human form. In practice, biotics without element zero. The result of Prothean experimentation, Hexers are super soldiers with telepathic abilities. Built to fight reaper troops, their current speed/strength/agility levels are rather high, comparable to higher-end battle mechs in some cases. In addition to telepathy, Hexers have learned to imitate a number of biotic abilities. Certain Hexers are capable of traveling short distances instantaneously in a ‘blink’. They are infertile, but can make more of themselves in a process referred to as the “Turning”. Hexers are given to high temperatures and pale, almost ashen skin, but otherwise look sufficiently human to explain their ability to hide, in context of their history and abilities.


	3. New Organizations

**The Order of the Reborn** (abbreviated OR) — An order of Hexers founded circa 1510, first for the purpose of ending the Clan Wars, then later to enforce non-intervention on all Hexers. As of 2181, they have a longstanding “don’t rock the boat” policy, with which they still refuse to intervene in human affairs, often in spite of threats from the Asari members of the commonwealth government. With this, technological progress has slowed to a crawl aside from the fruits of Cerberus labor, depending almost entirely on newly turned Hexers to continue.

 

They are largely organized into three branches: soldiers, hunters, and scholars. The last of these is a carryover term from an age where literacy indicated either high birth or a church position. Hence why scholars are researchers, scientists, and the sole branch responsible for innovation within the Order. There exists no formal hierarchical structure among scholars, which is just how they like it.

 

Hunters are spies, trackers, and scouts. They serve any purpose for which the Order needs to place a body in the middle of the action. Their structure is highly fluid, and any hierarchy amongst themselves is often said to simply not exist, save for 3 confirmed titles: Master of the Hunt, Shadowmaster, and Hirdman. 

 

Soldiers are the armed forces of the Order. Originally formed around the separatist remnants of the  _ Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem _ , known more commonly as the Teutonic Order, soldiers first took to calling themselves  _ Templars _ around the year 1576 and were the mechanism by which the Order ended the Clan Wars. This was later formalized into a distinction between veterans and the less skilled greenhorns during the expansionist years of the Second World War, before being officially struck down following the First Contact Treaty. Existing Templars still refer to each other using  _ knight _ as a prefix, leading to ranks such as Knight-Captain, or Knight-General, under the new hierarchy. 

 

* * *

 

 

**The Federated Hexers** , later **The Federated Planets** (usually  _ Feds  _ or  _ Federals _ ) — Until the year 1706, the Order relied heavily on a decentralized model to carry out its mission. It sent out teams of individuals, referred to as  _ Planters _ , to various Princes and Kings offering an exchange: let them operate as they pleased, and in turn they would support the throne in maintaining political power. One such team of planters, sent to the Grand Principality of Moscow in 1580, was thought lost after they failed to report back. Skip forward to 1955, when the Russians launched their Sputnik satellite 2 years early. The Order spent a year attempting to discover why and how, only to find the Planters very much alive and well. Flourishing, even. Integration attempts continued until the Treaty of Istanbul in 1982, at which time the Federals fled with a number of dissidents to the Rosetta Nebula, nestled deep within the Terminus systems.

 

The organization of the Federal government roughly mirrors that of the Sol Systems Alliance (SSA): there are the armed forces consisting of army, navy, and air force, law enforcement in the Federal Agency of Investigations, a governing body consisting of legislative, judicial, and executive wings, etc.

  
In contrast to the Order, the Federals firmly believe in Human-Hexer interaction. Under this thinking, the Federation relies on Humans for new ideas in what is commonly termed Deepthink. Hexers, meanwhile, connect and expand upon existing ideas in its companion, Broadthink. Similar to the Order, however, this practice is also not a rigid system. This practice has, however, helped to turn the Federated planets into a technological powerhouse.


	4. Miscellaneous Terms

Feral — A designation peculiar to the Order, a Feral is part myth, part reality. On the one hand, Hexers who resort to murder are said to do so as part of a blood ritual. On the other, the Order has declared any description of this ritual and its purpose to be “pseudoscience at best, religious homicide at worst”. What is certain is that the Order continues to use this designation periodically, claiming that such individuals are especially dangerous criminals who are not to be engaged with.

Less officially, there exists a suspicious trail of death and ruination connecting the Order to a number of sapient rights activists, and espionage cases. 

In 2066, a sapient rights group began campaigning for the recategorization of Ferals as conventional criminals, which would have made them subject to Alliance law. In 20 months, the group was rocked by numerous scandals and allegations, and stopped the campaign soon after.

In 2132, a Feral approached Foreign Minister Charles Buckley, requesting political asylum. Buckley initially granted the request, but changed his mind soon after, reporting the individual to the nearest Huntsman of the Order, and the Feral was never seen again.

In 2169, a vid began circulating the Extranet, allegedly of an event which took place in 1951. The individual making the recording can be heard saying “Those traitors’ll get what’s coming to ‘em” before setting an occupied building on fire. Various individuals were quick to connect the recording with a particular instance of arson taking place that same year, but the Order released an official proclamation regarding Ferals, detailing every particular of the Order’s stance towards them, and  _ officially _ naming them traitors to Hexers everywhere, while claiming that Ferals have always been seen as such. 

So as a concept, Ferals are slobbering, homicidal lunatics. In practice, however, “Feral” is an increasingly controversial designation that may only be marginally related to a genuine criminal status.


End file.
